BUSINESS RESOURCES & EDUCATION
THE CONTRACTOR ACCELERATED PAYMENT PROGRAM ( CAPP )
Improving LBE Public Construction Participation by Providing Access to Capital
In 1995 , the San Francisco International Airport ( SFO ) identified barriers that were precluding small and local contractors from bidding on the newly planned International Terminal . In response , Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services ( MWIS ) introduced the Surety Bond Program ( SFO SBP ) to the San Francisco International Airport , to assist local contractors with bonding for San Francisco International Terminal projects . SFO SBP successfully provided bidding assistance worth $ 53 million in work on the International Terminal . In recognition of this accomplishment , the SFO SBP was expanded to the City and County of San Francisco in 1997 , under Chapter 14B . In 2014 , SBP was reimagined as the Contractor Development Program ( CDP ), with expanded areas of technical assistance for the LBE contracting community .
Over years of working with the local contracting community , MWIS has documented and identified multiple barriers to public works contracting participation . The knowledge accumulated from advocating for and assisting small and emerging contractors has led to the concept of a “ Collaborative Ecosystem ,” to capture and express the factors inherent to and methods of achieving successful small and emerging contractor participation in public construction . As with many complex obstacles exacerbated by systemic resistance , there is no single-source solution to this multi-faceted issue . Public construction contracting is inherently challenging from both stakeholder viewpoints – owners and contractors alike . Without methods to create greater contract access and resources to mitigate barriers to successful contracting , the dynamics of public works contracting can continue to feel insurmountable for small and emerging contractors .
Access to Capital MWIS and the City and County of San Francisco identified access to capital as one vital element missing from the “ Collaborative Ecosystem .” Thus , in 2019 , MWIS introduced the pilot Contractor Accelerated Payment Program ( CAPP ) as another resource offered by the CDP .
How does the CAPP Function as a Component of the CDP ? The challenge of not having adequate capital to fund operations and project work is common among many LBE start-ups and even among more established businesses . Traditional lending institutions generally do not extend credit to these firms . To cover LBE ’ s early mobilization , material , equipment , labor , overhead and profit on contracts with the City , the Contractor Accelerated Payment Program provides LBEs with accelerated payments disbursed in advance of progress payments . The
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